24 October Cats and vets

Of the four resident marina adopted cats we have a favourite, a 3 or 4 year old ginger male called JJ. When he first arrived to take up residency by the swimming pool 3 years ago he was in bad shape, perhaps he'd been hit by a car as he had wounds, an abscess on his head and, probably through in breeding, an undershot jaw.

This summer we've been helping out with feeding at the weekends and had noticed he has been suffering with an infection in his mouth causing him to drool and has made eating painful. Vets on the Go attended gave him antibiotics for abscesses in his gums but he's not been getting better, bad breath, eating is difficult and he can't clean himself. So we offered our help to the marina manager. Would she like us to take him to another vet for a second opinion? She said yes and we took JJ to the GSPCA to see what they recommended.

JJ with teeth & Honey & Bob

Zara lent us her car to take both JJ and Polly. Polly was due her annual vaccinations plus her three yearly rabies shot. She was quiet in her carry case on the short ride, poor JJ yowled stuck in the boot in his travel case.

When we went in to see the vet it was Polly howled like a cat possessed. The practice in Grenada follows US method of injecting in the hind leg and not in the back of the neck. The reasoning is that injections can very occasionally cause cancer at the injection site and it is easier to remove a leg than a neck. But for Polly who was traumatised with the amputation of three toes on her rear foot after a crush injury a few years ago it was the worst place possible. It took 2 vets with towels to wrap her head (and teeth) to hold her. Next time we'll take the chance and insist on injections in the skin on her neck. It was awful to see her so scared.

JJ on the other hand was the quietest, most compliant patient while having his mouth exam. The immediate recommendation from the vet is removal of all his teeth. Many of them are already dead at the root and the rest have abscesses in the gum. It must be very painful for him.

Two days after our first visit we returned with JJ for his surgery and because he is a feral cat, to give him the best chance of recovery he was kept in for three days while he healed and was given antibiotics.

When we collected him he looked so much better. Still purring loudly, his coat is fuller, shinier. His breath is sweet and he is still the sweetest cat but toothless. In a short time we were told his gums will harden and he'll be able to eat both tinned cat food and kibbles. Without abscesses his general health will be much, much better.

Our history with JJ goes back three years to when we first met him at the marina. Then we sponsored the removal of his testicles, now we've sponsored the removal of his teeth. What next? He won't be trusting us again!

go on, show us your gums

15 October Seating upgrade

It seems that all we're doing at the moment is giving Jackster upgrades. This morning Budget Marine delivered a new starter battery. David discovered ours had expired in an indirect way.

After he'd fitted the new fuel injector nozzles he went to fire up the engine and nothing happened. He tried to start the generator and same thing. It was after dark by now so he thought he'd sleep on it and start the process of finding the issue next morning. Luckily at 3am he had the light bulb moment. Could it be that the starter battery has died? Yes. Four weeks ago it worked when he last ran the engine now we need a new one. A phone call, flex the universal tool, otherwise known as a credit card, and our issue is resolved.

The next upgrade was replacement seat squabs for our seat at the chart table. Again, a flex of the universal tool and a very generous offer from a fellow cruiser on the dock, Darrell, to carry it back from the US fixed it.

Our seat was fitted by the previous owner and over the years the cover had cracked. I found the supplier in the States online and tried to order for international delivery, but the computer said 'no', no delivery available outside the US. The pads cost $80 plus $45 to ship to a US address. However, if we spent $100 we would qualify for free shipping. It was a no brainer to find three beer bottle coolers on their site to qualify, two for us and one for Darrell.

new

old

11 October Fuel injector nozzles

David has been replacing all the nozzles in the fuel injectors as part of preventive regular maintenance. The tips wear out before the rest does and I was able to buy them in the UK and bring them back. I ordered them from Parts4Engines.com when I was home and they were delivered in less than 24 hours. It's taken David all week to strip and service both the generator's three injectors and the engine's four injectors because of the need to remove the various pipes to give a clear view of the injectors, to replace them and then to bleed the fuel through so it was a real bummer when neither generator nor engine would show any sign of bursting into life when pressing the starter buttons.

engine injectors removed

David suspected he had disturbed some of the wiring harness connections that he had had to move to one side to reach the injectors on the engine. He started investigating ground earths and various relays and, peculiar to Amels, the negative ground system. By now the sun had set and he decided to sleep on it and begin afresh next morning. This worked with a 3am light bulb moment when he realised that one of the few components common to both systems is the shared starter battery.

Could it be as simple as a flat starter battery? It was working fine a month ago when we changed berth.

dead starter battery

A quick check with the multimeter revealed the culprit as a flat starter battery. A call to Budget Marine, a flash of the credit card and a new battery charged and delivered next day solved the problem.

Yet another upgrade David was able to do with parts I'd brought week was to replace the old digital engine hour counter incorporated in the Volvo rev counter which had faded to grey many years ago. We haven't been without an engine hour counter – there's an inexpensive mechanical one which he uses to know when the oil, etc needs to be changed. The beauty of the new digital display in the Volvo rev counter is that it shows the true lifetime hours of the engine. At 6,000 hours it appears we still have plenty of life left. Just like David :) 

6 October The return of the Admiral

I arrived back last night with my three bags now filled with goodies for us, for Polly and for Jackster. It's good to be home.

David's so happy to have his early Christmas presents and has already fixed our tide clock with a new movement I brought back. This clock was a wedding presents from my London friends 16 years ago. David also fitted a new under sink inline water filter, fitted a ventilation grill to the door under the sink to vent hot air from the fridge, fitted a new inclinometer in the cockpit (like every other Amel, we still list 1 degree to port), fitted 5 very neat LED reading lights in place of the old lamps with shades. The new lights are touch sensitive on/off and have USB ports. A marvellous upgrade.

All I did was laundry, clearing up and putting the travel bags away.

Poor Polly got to use her present immediately; a soft padded collar which stops her licking the nick she has under her tail. We can't decide whether she looks like a sunflower or a daisy, but it works better than the plastic cone of shame.

sunflower or daisy?

25 to 30 October A Roman Holiday

It's been a magical, wonderful trip to Rome and a big bucket list tick. I went with my best friend Isobel. 40 years ago we met in a flat share in Balham, south London and have been besties ever since so we felt it was the right thing to mark the event with a special holiday to see the history and art of the Eternal City. Since studying art history at school I've always wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. And I've always wanted to see the Roman ruins.

In five days of a Bunty got-to-see-everything tour we 'did' Vatican Museum (the Sistine Chapel didn't disappoint),Vatican, Colosseum, Forum, Palatine, Pantheon, Castle San Angelo, Museo Borghese and the over hyped (IMHO) Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, walked everywhere and ate pasta and pizza to maintain our energy. Fan-bloody-tastic.

the Pantheon

author with St Paul's behind

Colosseum arena

David by Bernini

at the bottom of the Spanish steps

crowds at the Trevi

Isobel at the Trevi

the mouth of truth (as seen in Roman Holiday)

10 September Fly away

This evening I'm off to the airport to fly home. David is staying to look after Polly and Jackster. Over the last 3 weeks I've been stocking the freezer with 24 frozen ready meals for one; David wouldn't bother to cook for himself and I don't want him to starve. Polly has plenty of fish and kibbles.

In return David's been busy online shopping, filling the Amazon cart with essential boat needs. I've been shopping too. There'll be boat bits from specialist suppliers in the UK, such as new nozzles for the fuel injectors in both the engine and the generator.

I toddle off at sunset with three almost empty bags; I'm taking a side trip to Rome with my best buddy and will need my hot weather clothes for that. While in England I expect to be wearing jeans and jumpers as autumn begins.

2 September A regular week

It's now been two days since the last of our malady symptoms cleared and we've been able to get back to regular life. Such as when the cooking gas bottle runs out on Friday evening and you can't get a refill service until Monday which will then take two days to turn around. What do you do? David does a refill from the spare 20lbs tank we keep in the cockpit locker. We bought this tank in Panama City in February 2010 as a supplement to the two 10lbs tanks in the gas locker in preparation for our crossing of the Pacific. It's been very useful to have.

Having cooking gas meant I was able to cook a special anniversary dinner, better than a sandwich!

David continues to be niggled by sciatic pain and our mattress has begun to sag on his side of the bed so it's time to invest in a new one. We have a choice of two suppliers, both have the same quality foam, but one costs 60% less than the other and can deliver same day. No prizes for which supplier we chose. Now we have a lovely new mattress without a dent.

I went to the dentist for a regular check up, but it was a new dentist to me. First she told me I grind my teeth at night and need to be fitted with a dental guard. What? No-one, no other dentist has ever said I grind my teeth before or that I need a dental guard. Then she said I needed to having two fillings redone or risked the teeth falling in half. To cap it off she gave me the most brutal and painful clean I've ever experienced and shouted at me to keep still. I didn't like her, didn't trust her diagnosis. It felt like she was creating business. Luckily we know an excellent French dentist in the marina in Guadeloupe and we'll be there in three months.

But to finish this blog with a positive. The West Indies Brewery delivered a fresh case of IPA to Jackster and took the empties away. Wonderful service and a happy, hydrated Captain.

24 August Keeping cool

It has been so hot! Apparently a surfeit of Saharan dust in the upper atmosphere is trapping the heat in.

We have replaced a faulty pump in the AC unit in our cabin and replaced a noisy Hella fan in the forward cabin with an almost silent Caframo Sirocco one.

Our timing was good because first I fell ill and a day later David did the same. It could be a post Carnival virus, lots of extra visitors to the island, or we went on the bus a few days ago and went out for dinner at a crowded restaurant. Whatever. We are sick with flu like symptoms; headache, eyes ache, muscles ache, hot then cold, but no cough. It's not Covid because I did a test. There's a strong likelihood it is dengue fever from mosquito bites. Very popular here at the moment. Rest in an air conditioned cabin, fluids , paracetamol and isolating are all we can do.

* Footnote: I felt better within three days, David was hit harder and it has was closer to 6 days before his symptoms abated. All well now.

13 August The grand parade

It's last day of Grenada carnival 20224 and the spectacle today is the grand parade of floats and dancers in costumes with music trucks and plenty of libations to keep the party flowing. The advertised start time is early afternoon with the first trucks expected to pass the entrance to the marina at 2pm. Two hours later we have had a dozen groups pass slowly -there was a one hour stop for lunch break for the artists.

I walked a mile along the route to the main Carenage people watching, having a look at the many, many food stalls and bars set up on each side of the road. It's family party day with Mum and Dad in their deck chairs, kids with soap bubble guns and getting sticky with candy floss in their hair.

Not a lot of parading was happening but I took photos and slowly walked back to the marina. The party kicked off as the sun was setting and what a party. I think everyone who lives on the island took part. A glorious, joyful explosion of colour for the Carnival.

12 August Jab jab Carnival

It's the Glorious 12th.  The first day of the grouse season in the UK.

However,that's UK.  This is Grenada's glorious 12th and it's carnival time! Today is Monday and we have a couple of days of parades. This morning's parade began before dawn. Sometimes it's called Jab Jab and sometime J'ouvert, as in 'I open'.

In Jab Jab participants are celebrating the emancipation from slavery and traditionally wear chains, hats with horns (like the devil?) and cover each other with old car oil and paints. If you go to watch old clothes are a must.

At 5.30am Jackster began to vibrate to the heavy bass of the sound system on an approaching truck. By 6am the parade was coming down the hill towards the entrance to the marina and we could hear the murmur of singing and horns sounding. I got up to go and watch while David stayed home and saved his hearing.

My first impression was a seething mass of people. The music was deafening and the bass so booming I could feel it. I didn't go outside the entrance gates, I don't think I could there was such a press of bodies. Anyway I didn't want an oil bath.

The music truck was stopped, unable to move forward. People were dancing, drinking, carrying an array of household items, presumably symbolic though I was struggling to connect a garden strimmer, a doll, a supermarket trolley (yes, really), machetes, suitcases and a improvised aerosol flame thrower.

It is a unique spectacle and people have come from across the islands to join the party. I left after twenty minutes having assaulted my ear drums and walked back to the main marina gate where there was a soap and hose down station in operation to wash off any oils and paints. I thought I was clean, but no, a dirty mark on the back of an arm had to cleaned.

The parade moved slower than an aged snail around the lagoon; four hours to travel half a mile and all the time the boats were a shakin'.

At 2.30pm it was the turn of the children's parade with colourful floats, a steel band and the kiddies dressed in what they hoped were prize winning outfits. This parade finished at 9pm. Finally quiet so we could sleep.

NO! No sleep for us when the after hours party kicked off at midnight on the road closest to us; less than 200m away a truck with the biggest sound system, the hardest bass boomers parked and stayed for three hours! I'm old. It wasn't music as I know it, more a disharmonious cacophony of noise. This time our companionway door was being rattled in the frame and our lampshades inside were 'chattering'. My teeth were grinding and sleep was impossible. Welcome to the uncomfortable bit of Caribbean carnival.

security at marina entrance

music truck

strimmers aloft